The Merge: Top 5 misconceptions about the anticipated Ethereum upgrade

The joy round Ethereum’s (ETH) upcoming improve, The Merge, which entails the merger of two blockchains — Mainnet Ethereum and Beacon Chain — has unknowingly spurred rumors throughout the group.

Termed essentially the most vital improve within the historical past of Ethereum, The Merge does certainly mark the tip of proof-of-work (PoW) for the Ethereum blockchain. Nonetheless, listed here are 5 misconceptions that stand out among the many relaxation.

False impression 1: Ethereum gasoline charges will scale back after The Merge

Ethereum’s impending improve will scale back Ethereum’s notorious gasoline charges (transaction charges) is likely one of the greatest misconceptions circulating amongst buyers. Whereas diminished gasoline charges tops each investor’s wishlist, The Merge is a change of consensus mechanism that can transition the Ethereum blockchain from PoW to proof-of-stake (PoS).

As an alternative, decreasing gasoline charges in Ethereum would require engaged on increasing the community capability and throughput. The developer group is presently engaged on a rollup-centric roadmap to make transactions cheaper.

False impression 2: Ethereum transactions can be sooner after The Merge

It’s protected to imagine that Ethereum transactions won’t be noticeably sooner. Nonetheless, there may be some reality to this rumor, as Beacon Chain permits validators to publish a block each 12 seconds, which on the Mainnet is roughly 13.3 seconds.

Whereas Ethereum builders consider that transitioning to PoS will allow a ten% enhance in block manufacturing, the slight enchancment will go unnoticed by customers.

False impression 3: The Merge will end in downtime of the Ethereum blockchain

Contrasting the misconceptions that envision constructive outcomes for Ethereum from The Merge, a preferred rumor means that the deliberate improve will momentarily take down the Ethereum blockchain.

The builders anticipate no downtime as blocks transition from being constructed utilizing PoW to being constructed utilizing PoS.

False impression 4: Buyers will have the ability to withdraw staked ETH after The Merge

Staked ETH (stETH), a cryptocurrency backed 1:1 by ETH, presently lies locked on the Beacon Chain. Whereas customers would love to have the ability to withdraw their stETH holdings, the developer group has confirmed that the improve doesn’t facilitate this alteration.

Withdrawal of stETH holdings can be made obtainable through the subsequent main improve after The Merge, often known as the Shanghai improve. Because of this, the belongings will stay locked and illiquid for at the least 6-12 months after the merger.

False impression 5: Validators will be unable to withdraw ETH rewards til the Shanghai improve

Whereas stETH stays blocked for buyers till withdrawals are resumed following the Shangai improve, validators may have fast entry to the payment rewards and maximal extractable worth (MEV) earned throughout block proposals from the execution layer or Ethereum Mainnet.

Because the payment compensation won’t be newly issued tokens, it is going to be obtainable to the validator instantly.

Associated: Ethereum will outpace Visa with zkEVM Rollups, says Polygon co-founder

Sharing his tackle Ethereum’s untapped potential, Polygon co-founder Mihailo Bjelic informed Cointelegraph that zkEVM Rollups, a brand new scaling resolution for Ethereum, will permit the sensible contract protocol to outpace Visa by way of transaction throughput.

Sandeep Nailwal, Polygon’s different co-founder, echoed Bjelic’s ideas as he envisioned the answer slicing down Ethereum charges by 90% and growing transaction throughput to 40–50 transactions per second.